Filmmaker Jeff Bear from UrbanRez Productions of B.C. is flying in with the film. Mother Earth Water Walker, Nokomis Josephine Mandamin will be here.

We are very pleased that Jeff Bear is coming all the way to the Sault for this screening. During the 2011 walk, the Central Communications Post was on this campus at Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig. Many of our students participated in the water walk, and many of them, including Josephine will be graduating this June.

April 24, 2012, at Rocky Bay, the water will be lifted after the Offerings are made to the sacred waters. This will be approximately at 8 am, although the morning Tobacco and Pipe Offering will have been made prior to the lifting of the water. We will then proceed on Hwy 11 towards Nipigon, Ontario.

Over the past year we have honored the sacred waters of Lake Nipigon with three offerings: the first was in the summer at the mouth of Lake Superior where the Nipigon River flows, then over the winter a big Bundle Offering was presented to the Spirits, and then this winter (new year), another bundle was offered to the ice water at Rocky Bay. On April 24th will be the fourth offering.

Those that want to join us are asked to bring good and happy energy. Not everyone will be able to carry the water and staff all the way through because of the shortage of boats. We do not have extra skirts so women are asked to wear/bring their own skirts.

Hello Water Friends and my sister Shirley,
Please use this link below to see part of Josephine’s first leg of Water Walk 2011. The walk began on an overcast day that was accented by intermittent showers. There was, however, not nearly enough precipitation to dull the day brightened by the warmth and beauty of Josephine’s words, prayers, songs and sense of humor. When no one was looking but the sneakiest camera in the crowd, Josephine filled up her pale and with a gentle push walked up a steep hill in the first few steps her longest water walk yet. People were still eating, and all but a few realised that the walk was on. From that point on we couldn’t keep up to her. We chased her for a day and finally around day two we were keeping ahead of her. But it took a Suburban and a Subaru to do so. On Day three our Maori crew member was invited to carry the eagle staff and all the boys wanted in. So we all carried the Eagle for a few hundred ceremonial steps. It felt awesome to be included.
Let me just express a big thanks for all those who have helped us get this far with the story. I owe it almost all to Josephine, though, for trusting us and having faith that we would get it right. A Big thanks to Tina and Delbert for generosity, time and Delbert’s great composition and clip used in the trailer.
I hope you enjoy the glimpse and feel free to offer feedback or spread the word.
Jeff urbanrez@gmail.com

I just posted this on facebook:
Good morning! I got a telephone message made at 4:30 this morning from Grandmother Josephine Mandamin. They need our help! Josephine needs me to call them and tell them that they have support walkers and staff carriers coming… and i know of no one that has stood up to do this, so I haven’t called her… yet… please answer Nokomis’ call for more walkers and staff carriers… there are only the 3 of them now, herself, Shelley and Sylvia. There are 1163 members on the facebook list, if we all email or call a relative in the west we can get them the help they need… if you can’t walk, maybe you can drive someone there that can… they have recently turned off Hwy 508 onto Cinebar Rd not far from Ike Kinswa State Park in Washington. They walk the equivalent of a marathon everyday! I want to call Josephine and tell her that help is on the way… spread the word, make the phonecalls. Miigwech.

Josephine had a frantic week prior to hitting the road… the OPSEU convention in Toronto, jet lag, and exams and papers due for univeristy… two of which she finished in Olympia, Washington and emailed in… It’s my guess she might be a little pooped… and she would never complain about it… but she telephoned me this morning, something we were going to reserve for emergencies…. she will walk through her tiredness for the water… can we make some phone calls to people in the west that might be near where they currently are (www.emptyglassforwater.ca/map click on line under map that read “Click here to see where they are right now” via GPS tracking).

I will probably beg for help for the walkers that carry the water, many times through this walk… but this will probably be the hardest part of the walk, because the word isn’t out yet…

Please email me if you or someone you know is heading to Cinebar Road to walk with the women. I want to make that phone call back to the walkers with the good news.

Josephine Mandamin, Shelley Essaunce, Sylvia Plain and the Water, need to know that help is on the way.

February 28, 2011 LETTER SENT TO ALL ONTARIO CANADIAN FEDERATION OF STUDENT LOCALS

Boozhoo Ontario CFS Locals,

I was fortunate enough to speak to at the Spirit of the North conference to the Northern Ontario universities. We discussed plans for World Water Day (March 22/11) and Canada Water Week (March 14-22/11). There was support for holding ‘Glass Action’ days on campuses.

- show a feature length film, inviting the greater community to attend (i.e. Waterlife, Water on the Table)

- encourage people to bring empty glasses for water… if you have it in your budgets, you could mail in glasses for your students, or ask your MP drop them off to the Prime Minister… you could also have empty glasses on hand for people… start a water glass drive now… insert the postcards into each glass, so people can just quickly fill it out, then drop it into a box for shipping. EG4W CFS letters to PM (4 per page) PDF

- invite the Chief or an Elder from a neighbouring community to speak at your event, find out what their water situation is… perhaps you will be doing a water ceremony that day, ‘Greet Pray Semaa’, please send us this information so we can place a virtual semaa/tobacco leaf on our website (ceremony tracker: http://www.emptyglassforwater.ca/nyk/?page_id=145)

- promote the Mother Earth ‘Turtle Island’ Water Walk at your event. (www.motherearthwaterwalk.com) This year the Grandmothers and youth are walking and carrying water from all 3 oceans, and the Gulf of Mexico, and meeting in Bad River, Wisconsin where the waters will converge on JUNE 12th. I am helping coordinate this event. Water Walk 2011 Brochure PDF

A good fundraising idea brought to us from the Madeleine Huntjens, lead walker from the West is…
“I Support the Mother Earth Water Walkers One Step at a Time” PENNY DRIVE!!
On our last day at ceremonies we collected 36,897 pennies, so the walkers can walk 36,897 footsteps!
The walkers will be walking over 10,400,000 steps this spring… can we collect that many pennies to support them?
YES WE CAN!!

Received this information from Nokomis Josephine Mandamin, Mother Earth Water Walker this morning. More information will come… stay tuned.

From: Josephine Mandamin

Date: September 19, 2010

Subject: Water walk 2011 – Turtle Island

Nibi Onji, nibi onjih….that’s what it’s all about. Raising a collective consciousness to the general population will be the challenge. Youth will be called upon to take on this challenge. While carrying the pail of ocean water, great sacrifices will be made by Walkers. That information of the walk will be shared along the way as: ‘Walking the Talk’, to as many people as can be reached.

The Spirit of the Water must be forever in the minds of the Walkers because the challenge will be great and cautious about not being overwhelmed by the task. Guides/Leaders will be called upon to form a Waterwalk Family with the Walkers. Media/Communications people will also have to be identified for each group. Sponsorship identifications will have to be the responsibility of each group. Funding will have to be the groups’ responsibility.

Equipment such as cell phones, camera, radio phones, blackberry(s), and vehicles will have to be rented for the period of two months or so. The timing has to be closely synchronized so as to complete the Waterwalk at the same time at the destination.

The importance of information we want to convey is paramount. This information about pending global awakening and peace to the living and to the future is the message. We cannot dwell on the negative. We must, at all times, speak of hope and bring about the message of caring for our environment. The water songs have to be sung continually and tobacco offered at each water siting.

We have heard many ideas so far. These ideas can be developed in a proposal in the community who is identified as the Main Carriers of the Water. A map has gone out to all contacts and a message also about a central contact list has been asked for by Rainey Gaywish.

It is hoped that the Waterwalk will begin at Easter Break 2011. Someone will chart out the miles and gauge the time it will take to complete the Walk.